Building a world people want to belong to: Grace Andrews's takeaways at Discovered. 29 October 2026 At its flagship event Discovered, Journey Further hosted Grace Andrews, creator entrepreneur, brand builder and the person who scaled The Diary of a CEO's viewership to over a billion. Grace sits right at the intersection of media, business and culture, which made her the perfect person to help Journey Further explore where discovery is heading next... Be the brand that stands out. Its Discovered event was created to support marketers in the new era of discovery, where search is so much more dynamic and AI-powered experiences can leave brands lost in the waves of generated content. And Grace Andrews definitely agreed with the concept. She highlighted that the brands who truly stand out make people feel something. To create that feeling of trust, connection and a sense of belonging, brands need to move beyond selling products and to create worlds that people genuinely want to be part of. Grace drew on her experience helping grow The Diary of a CEO, noting that reaching more people doesn't automatically mean converting more customers. Instead of maximising reach, brands need to focus on the emotional connection to resonate with audiences. Just getting seen by as many people as possible is a flawed strategy. You need to find the people who care, then build your community. "It's all about how you make people feel and how you make them trust you" Build real trust. Grace talked about the importance of showing up consistently. Customers will encounter your brand across so many channels, social, website, customer service, and more, but every encounter stacks up to shape their perception. For Grace, the key to building trust for brands is showing up consistently across each touchpoint and channel. This repeated exposure will then build familiarity, with every interaction reinforcing the same brand identity. "Repetition leads to recognition. Which leads to trust. Which leads to choice." Customers rarely follow a linear path to purchase, and within the discovery era, this is even more prevalent. However, Grace highlighted the importance of a connected experience, regardless of where the customer enters:" Every touch point is a doorway into your world". Use creators as part of your story. In the discovery era, brands can have a large social following, but that doesn't mean they're getting discovered, and it doesn't guarantee trust or sales. Grace describes the core misunderstanding most brands have with creator partnerships: they see them as a way to rent an audience, rather than a way to build meaningful connections. "Creators aren't just assets. They're not media assets. They're characters in your brand world story." With the example of Rhode, Hailey Bieber's beauty and lifestyle brand, Grace showcased how creators, collaborations, imagery and products all unite as key contributions to a recognisable brand world. A space where customers feel safe, included and their expectations of the brand are met at every turn. But having a celebrity endorsement can bring following, without the connection, if not done with a genuine connection. Transactional briefs and paying for followers are a huge no. The next example of Red Bull's deal with Max Verstappen demonstrates a logical fit with extreme athletics like Formula 1. They captured attention, connection and then long-term trust. Red Bull built an ecosystem where their brand became synonymous with an entire culture. As Grace puts it "they're not selling cans, they're selling a feeling". It's essential to work with creators who authentically belong in line with your brand. This brings credibility and creates a genuine relationship that makes sense. Go back to basics. Building brand in the authentic and consistent way that Grace outlined requires alignment across the whole business. Everyone needs to understand the same identity, as well as communicating it in the same way. "Sometimes you've actually just got to sit back for a second. Who are Journey Further? What do Journey Further stand for? Grace recommended going back to basics. Start by mapping every customer's touchpoint, auditing brand language and clarifying the fundamental questions of who the business is and what it stands for. "We are the brand that does X for X". Next, map the inconsistencies. Like journalist Omar Oakes also highlighted during Discovered (link talk), it can be tempting to chase every new trend with more content out online than ever before. However, staying true to relevant and specific communication which truly resonates with your audience, is much more likely to generate buildable return. As Grace puts it: the strongest brands create meaning beyond the product itself, so build the world people want to belong to.

Diony signals next-level ambitions with landmark leadership appointment. 6/9/2026 8:25:08 AM 4 mins read Fast-growing performance marketing agency, Diony, has underlined its next-level ambitions with the appointment of a high profile director who brings nearly two decades of experience in the sector. Laura Hustwit has made the move from industry leaders Journey Further to join Diony, where founder and managing director Alistair O' Sullivan recently led a management buy-out and invested £400,000 into the agency as part of a modernisation drive and new proposition in an industry undergoing rapid change. As operations director, Laura will lead the Diony team in looking beyond delivery of services and towards strengthening a new approach to partnerships which has already brought significant results. Laura has spent more than 18 years building her career across production, digital delivery and operations. Her experience spans digital transformation, client delivery, workflow optimisation and multi-channel project management, with a strong focus on building high-performing teams, improving agency operations and delivering exceptional client outcomes. Throughout her career, Laura has held senior leadership roles within top agencies, helping to drive operational growth, improve client delivery and support significant commercial success. Having played a key role in scaling departments, implementing transformational operational processes and delivering major client projects, she now joins Diony ready to help lead the agency through its next stage of growth. Laura said: "Journey Further is a great agency which definitely looks after its people and you can see why it's known as one of the best agencies. I learned a huge amount during my time there, but ultimately I wanted a new challenge and the opportunity to help shape and grow something in a different environment." "Diony has really solid foundations to build on and that's purely from the hard work that Alistair and the team have put in. He's built one of the best agencies in the region but in order to go to the next level we have to sustain our new proposition, and continue evolving in what is a rapidly changing environment in the market. Being at the forefront of that is critical to us and our clients, and being brighter, bolder, and braver in everything we do." Alistair, who is still only 28, launched Diony in 2017 and now leads a team which supports regional, national and international clients from its offices at the WORX business centre in Hull. Laura said: "Clients today want far more than just delivery from an agency relationship. They want genuine partnerships, strategic value, transparency and expertise that can support long-term business growth. Across the industry, agencies are being asked to become more integrated, commercially aware and accountable, and that's exactly where I believe my experience can add real value for Diony and its clients." "Alistair and I complement each other really well. We bring different strengths and perspectives, which creates a strong partnership for the agency. My background is heavily focused on operations, delivery and client experience, while Alistair brings the commercial drive and vision, and together that gives us a really strong platform for growth." Alistair added: "The idea behind the changes to the business is about driving commercial excellence to clients in a market evolving at pace. Laura is very well known and hugely respected in our sector and brings the next-level knowledge and experience we need as we work with higher calibre clients, and brands pushing for an agency built for tomorrow."